Conventional Christmas tree lighting systems commonly employ a plurality of electrical receptacles, each adapted to receive individual Christmas lights and mounted spatially along a pair of elongate insulated conductors. The conductors typically terminate at one end in an attachment suitable for connecting the system to a source of electricity and at another end in an individual Christmas light or in an attachment suitable for interconnecting multiple lighting systems. Such systems typically have the individual lights arranged in either a series or parallel connection, with the voltage and current ratings of the lights selected accordingly.
Christmas tree lights are typically placed about a Christmas tree by repeatedly winding a continuous string of lights over and between the tree branches. Applying and removing strings of lights is time consuming and burdensome. The process may result in broken branches, branches stripped of needles, partial destruction of the continuous wire to which the lights are attached, or injury to the person applying the light strings to the tree. These strings of lights are very difficult to apply in a uniform, balanced, or patterned distribution over the entire tree surface. In addition, these strings of lights are difficult to remove and store without severe tangling.
To facilitate the deployment of Christmas tree lights, U.S. Pat. No. 3,096,943 to Forrer describes the use of a non-adjustable grid-like lighting assembly consisting of interconnected light-bearing risers, which may be wrapped once around the circumference of a tree and fastened to assume a substantially frustro-conical form. Forrer cannot be adapted to a variety of tree sizes and shapes. U.S. Pat. No. 5,057,976 to DuMong describes a unitary assembly that may be wrapped once around the circumference of a tree and fastened to provide a substantially even light presentation over the portion of the tree surface actually covered by the assembly. Like Forrer, the system described in DuMong lacks adaptability to different sized trees. U.S. Pat. No. 5,213,519 to Dorfman describes a unitary assembly that may be draped over and around a tree but, like Forrer and DuMong, cannot present a particular spatial distribution of lights over the tree surface without regard to the size of the tree and the corresponding size and spatial distribution of its branches. Furthermore, prior art lighting systems, such as those described in Forrer, DuMong, and Dorfman, employ lighting elements that extend outward from the plane of the assembly, which exacerbates the tangling problem.